Nov. 24, 2004

I have noticed that there has been increasing attention given to the issue of cell phones in secure areas. It appears that not only is this a persistent problem, but also a growing one in some cases.

Depending on people alone to always check and leave their cell phones behind is a plan that is doomed to frequent and repeated failure. Some extremely attentive people will manage. But most people forget things at least occassionally. Cell phones are designed specifically to be carried and forgotten until they are needed. The ladies will just drop one in a purse and forget about it; the guys will just clip it on their belt and forget as well. They also get left in briefcases and back packs. Additionally, cell phone use is on the rise, and younger people (whom the Lab is trying to attract) are far more likely to own and use them, often as their only phone.

Most solutions, where it is important to prevent infractions, do not rely on the person alone, but instead provide some sort of reminders or simply eliminate the possibility entirely. The goal should be to eliminate the security threat using all means available. I see two possibilities along those lines regarding cell phones. I'm sure that these ideas have come up before, so I am curious as to how far along they may be or what obstacles might exist in implementing them.

The first is that cell phone jamming could be used in secure areas to simply eliminate any possibility that a cell phone could be used (either by the user or anyone else). This would have the added advantage of eliminating cell phones as a threat in the zone just outside secure areas, where cell phone presence is prohibited, but are otherwise poorly monitored (if at all). Since such jammers are already commerically available, has anyone pursued this with the National Nuclear Security Administration, to see if such a solution would eliminate the need for a security infraction when a cell phone is carried into a secure area? A person might carry a cell phone into a security area, but it would simply be rendered useless and inocuous until they left. This accomplishes the real goal in a very robust fashion, not relying on infractions to determine the presence of a cell phone. (Surely, there are cases when simply no one notices that a cell phone is present).

The second possibility is a reminder. Technology exists to detect cell phones. Could this be deployed at the gates of secure sites, such that some sort of notice would be given when a cell phone is in the vicinity of the gate? That way, a person has a chance to get rid of the cell phone before entering and creating an infraction. It could make a big difference simply to deploy this at a few of the busiest entrances.

--Richard Stead